Every Thursday and Friday, we do Guru pooja and Lakshmi pooja at home in a simple manner. Thinking about what to make as prasadam / neivedyam every week is a big task for me. Even though I know many prasadam recipes like sweet pongal, Kesari, Payasam etc, I always look for simple and healthy naivedyam recipes that can be prepared easily.
For this year Navarathri, I have come to Salem and spending some good time with my in-laws as we don’t have Golu celebration this year. Still we make some sweets and sundal varieties on all these 9 days and offer God. Today my MIL prepared this easy sweet aval mixture for Thursday guru pooja neivedyam.
Its a very simple sweet mixture recipe. There is no deep frying and my MIL had used jaggery instead of sugar. So this is a super quick and super healthy recipe you can munch on for your evening snacks. I am sure kids will love it a lot.
All you need is Poha / Aval, Sesame seeds, Roasted chana dal and jaggery for this recipe. Its so tasty and crunchy to eat. Friends, If you are looking to make some simple sweet mixture along with sundal for this Navratri and Diwali, you must try this recipe. Even bachelors can make this easily. Everyone will love it.
Ok friends, lets jump on to this easy sweet poha chivda / Aval mixture with jaggery in simple steps.
Roasted chana dal / Gram dal / Pottukadalai - 2 tbsp
Grated or powdered jaggery - 1/4 cup ( adjust as per you need)
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 2 (crushed or powdered)
HOW TO MAKE SWEET AVAL MIXTURE
Heat a kadai and dry roast the sesame seeds till it splutters.
Collect in a plate. Add a tsp of ghee and roast a fistful of poha till it puffs up and become crispy. Remove in the plate.
Repeat the same procedure for 1/2 cup of poha. Collect in the plate.
Switch off the flame and add in the roasted gram dal. Let it roast in the heat of kadai. Collect in the plate.
Let everything cool down. Lastly add grated jaggery and crushed cardamom.
Mix well and serve immediately for best taste. Store in an air tight box and consume within a day.
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat a kadai and dry roast the sesame seeds till it splutters. Remove in a plate.
Heat 1 tsp of ghee. Add a fistful of poha / thick aval and roast patiently it turns white and puffs up well. If you try to break it, it will be crunchy. Remove in the sesame seeds plate.
Again add 1 tsp of ghee. Add fistful of poha and roast till crispy and puffy. Remove in the plate. Repeat the procedure until all the poha is roasted.
Switch off the flame and add the roasted chana dal. Mix well. Let it roast in the heat of kadai. Remove in the plate.
Let everything cool down. Lastly add the crushed cardamom and grated jaggery. Mix well and serve immediately for best taste.
Note
For variations, you can add powdered sugar instead of jaggery.
You can also add some ghee roasted cashews.
I have not deep fried the poha to make a low calorie version. You can also deep fry in oil and ghee mixture to make it rich.
As it is not deep fried, this mixture turns soggy soon. So store it in an air tight box and consume within a day.
Try this easy sweet aval mixture and enjoy at home.
Green gram laddu / Pasi payaru urundai (in Tamil) is a super healthy and easy sweet cum snack recipe. Last week I prepared this for my Guru pooja neivedyam. It can be prepared instantly under 15 minutes. I used Organic powdered jaggery / Naatu sakkarai. You can use sugar too.
Friends, you can pack this healthy green moong ladoo for yours and kids snacks box. You can also prepare this ladoo as prasadam for festivals like Diwali, Gokulashtami, Navarathri and Ganesh chaturthi as its easy, healthy and quick to prepare. Ok, Lets check out how to make this easy and yummy Green gram laddu with jaggery with step by step pictures.
Green gram laddu with jaggery / Pasi payaru urundai recipe
Green gram laddu with jaggery / Pasi payaru urundai recipe for Kids snacks box and festivals.
Heat a kadai and dry roast the green gram in low to medium flame till reddish brown with nice aroma.
Cool down completely. Grind to a fine powder along with cardamom.
Lastly add powdered jaggery to it and grind again to smooth powder.
Collect in a plate. Heat ghee and roast broken cashews. Add to the mixture.
Mix well and shape ladoo. Store in an air tight box. You can use up to 1 week.
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
To make green gram ladoo with jaggery, firstly heat a kadai. Lower the flame and add the green gram. Roast it till it leaves a nice aroma and turns reddish brown color. Roast patiently in low to medium flame else laddu tastes raw.
Switch off the flame and remove in a plate. Let it cool down completely.
In a mixie jar, take the green gram, cardamom and grind to a fine powder.
Lastly add the powdered jaggery to the mixie jar. Powder it nicely. Remove and collect in a plate.
Heat ghee in a small kadai and roast the broken cashew pieces till golden in color. Add to the green gram jaggery mixture.
Mix evenly with a spoon as the ghee is hot. Once it turns warm, mix well with your hands and shape balls. Make ladoo and store in an air tight box. Enjoy up to 1 week.
Note
For variations, you can roast the powdered green gram in melted ghee, cashew mixture and shape ladoo once it cools down. Ladoo looks little moist and shiny.
You can use powdered sugar instead of jaggery.
Make sure you roast the green gram without raw smell.
Easy, super healthy and instant green gram ladoo is ready to relish !
Aval puttu / Poha jaggery puttu is one of the easy and yummy neivedyam recipes you can prepare for Gokulashtami, Navarathri and other occasions at home. I learnt this recipe from my MIL. She used to make it often for our Friday Thiru vilakku poojai.
Last week I made this for my pooja asking the recipe and procedure from her. Actually my MIL told me to add powdered jaggery to the powdered and soaked poha directly. But I made jaggery syrup and strained it as it had some impurities. If your jaggery is clean, you can powder and add it as such.
Friends, do try this easy Aval puttu / Poha puttu for Gokulashtami festival and enjoy.
Aval puttu / Poha puttu recipe
Aval puttu / Poha puttu recipe for Gokulashtami and Navarathri festivals.
Dry roast aval / poha for 5 minutes in medium flame till crispy.
Remove and powder it coarsely. Wash and keep it aside.
Add little hot water to make the poha soft. Cover it for 10 minutes
Poha becomes soft and crumbly in few minutes.
Boil jaggery and melt it. Strain the syrup and boil till frothy and thick.
Add the syrup to the soaked poha. Mix well.
Add cardamom powder, grated coconut and mix well.
Lastly roast the cashews in ghee till golden in color.
Add to the aval puttu and offer as prasadam to Lord Krishna for Gokulashtami !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat a kadai and dry roast the aval / poha for few minutes in medium flame. Roast till it becomes crispy. You can use thin or thick poha.
Remove and cool down. Grind to a coarse powder and add little hot water to it. ( Say 1/2 to 3/4 cup). Cover and sit for 10 minutes. Poha absorbs all the water and it becomes soft, crumbly.
In the mean time, boil the jaggery adding 1/4 cup water and melt it. Strain the syrup and boil again till syrup becomes frothy and slightly thick.
Add the syrup to the soaked aval and mix well. It will look mushy initially but it becomes crumbly and fluffy after some time.
Lastly add the crushed cardamom,grated coconut and mix gently. Roast cashews in ghee and add to the poha mix.
Mix well and offer as prasadam to Lord Krishna. You can also make this neivedyam for Navarathri along with some sundal varieties.
Enjoy !
Note
For variations, you can add powdered jaggery to the soaked poha if its clean.
For thin poha, just follow the same procedure but do not add all the syrup at once. Add gradually till poha absorbs it because thin poha doesn’t take all the syrup.
Nagara Panchami and Maha Shivaratri is one of the most popular festivals in Karnataka. Every year during Nag Panchami and Shivaratri, my neighbor used to pass this akki tambittu recipe as pooja prasadam. We all love it. I wanted to get the recipe from her and blog it for long time. Due to this pandemic situation, we are not able to get this prasadam from her for the past two years.
This year, I got the recipe from her and made it in my kitchen. I also offered this laddu / unde as prasad for my Thursday Guru pooja. My neighbor makes it big in size but I made it small as per my family’s liking. Friends, this tambittu is a super healthy ladoo recipe with all the goodness of jaggery, roasted rice, roasted gram, sesame seeds, peanuts, poppy seeds and desiccated coconut. You can give it to your kids snacks box as well.
Apart from this akki thambittu recipe, people also make Chigali ladoo/ sesame seeds laddu, hurigadale tambittu on this occasion. Soon I will try to share those recipes here.
Now lets see how to make Karnataka special akki tambittu recipe with step by step pictures. Prepare this special recipe for Nagara Panchami festival tomorrow and enjoy !
Akki thambittu recipe / Akki tambittu recipe
Akki thambittu recipe / Akki tambittu recipe for Nagara panchami and Maha Shivaratri festival prasada.
Grated jaggery - 1/2 cup (Use 3/4 cup for more sweetness)
Roasted gram dal / Hurigadale - 1/4 cup
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Sesame seeds - 2 tbsp
Khus khus /Poppy seeds - 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Desiccated coconut - 2 tbsp (Grated)
Water – 1/3 cup
HOW TO MAKE AKKI THAMBITTU RECIPE
Heat a kadai and dry roast the rice till puffy. Transfer to a plate.
Dry roast sesame seeds and poppy seeds till they splutter.
Add roasted gram dal and roast for a minute. Reserve half and transfer to the rice plate.
Dry roast peanuts till skin crackles. Remove the skin and keep aside.
Dry roast coconut and set aside.
Grind the rice, sesame seeds, roasted gram dal mixture to a fine powder.
Transfer to a plate. Grind peanuts coarsely and add to the plate.
Now add the roasted coconut, cardamom powder, reserved poppy+sesame seeds+gram dal and ghee. Mix well.
Melt jaggery adding water and boil till frothy. Let it cool down. Filter it and add to the rice mixture.
Mix evenly and make balls. Karnataka Akki thambittu is ready !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Heat a kadai and roast the rice in low to medium flame till puffy. Remove in a plate.
Dry roast sesame seeds and poppy seeds till it starts to splutter. Add the roasted gram dal and roast for a minute. Switch off the flame.
Reserve half of this mixture in a plate and add the remaining in the rice plate. Cool down and grind to a fine powder.
Transfer to a plate. Dry roast desiccated or fresh coconut for few minutes and add to the rice flour plate.
Dry roast peanuts till its skin crackles. Cool down and remove the skin. Grind coarsely.
Add the powdered peanuts to the rice flour mixture. Add cardamom powder, ghee and the reserved poppy seeds, sesame seeds and roasted gram dal. Combine and mix everything well.
Take jaggery in a kadai. Add water to cover it. Boil and melt the jaggery. Boil for few minutes in medium flame till it becomes frothy and slightly thick. No need to look for any consistency. But make sure, jaggery syrup is not too thick. Thambittu will become hard to bite after it sets. So keep the syrup slightly thick like oil. Let it cool down completely.
Now filter the syrup and add to the rice flour mixture. Mix well to coat the rice flour. No problem if the mixture looks wet and loose. Shape ladoo and arrange in a plate.
This ladoo becomes hard after its set in few hours. So make sure the ladoo is soft to handle while shaping.
Enjoy !
Note
For variations, you can skip grinding sesame seeds and poppy seeds. You can add the roasted ones as such.
You can skip desiccated coconut or use fresh coconut instead. In that case, roast the fresh coconut till its dry.
Try this easy, healthy akki thambittu recipe for festivals and enjoy !
Rice kheer / rice pudding (arisi payasam in Tamil) was the very first recipe I tried in my instant pot for Thursday Guru pooja prasad. Rice kheer is a creamy Indian dessert recipe that is prepared for festivals and special occasions at home. The ease of this recipe has made me prepare this dish almost every week Thursday or Friday poojai. All we have to do is to just add in roasted basmati rice, water, milk, sugar, cardamom powder and few saffron threads. Cook in pressure cooker mode in instant pot for just 12 minutes and your creamy rice kheer is done ! It tastes more like restaurant style rice kheer.
Before making this rice kheer in instant pot, I referred so many recipes for perfect measurement, procedure and cooking time. Most of the recipes called for cooking rice in milk (in porridge mode or pressure cook mode) and then add sugar or condensed milk, flavoring ingredients like cardamom, saffron, nuts etc. But I wanted a recipe like one pot one shot just like my pressure cooker semiya payasam.
When I was discussing about this with my friend Shalini, she suggested me to try this method. She has been doing making rice kheer in instant pot for the potluck, get togethers and weekend party following this procedure. Its a hassle free and easiest method to make this yummy Indian dessert even in the last minute. You can serve 10 people easily with just 1 cup of rice.
In Instant pot rice kheer, most of the people complain about curdling of milk or rice sticking to the bottom of instant pot or kheer getting burnt in the bottom. Don’t worry, this method doesn’t disappoint you in any way. Addition of water is the key here. You will get a rich, super creamy, thick and yummy rice kheer all the time.
I have used basmati rice, sugar and milk in this recipe. You can use raw rice, condensed milk or soy milk, Almond milk, coconut milk( for Vegan options) instead. You can also use evaporated milk.
Friends, do try this easy and creamy rice kheer in instant pot. You will love it and make it more often like me. Lets see how to make Indian rice pudding / rice kheer in instant pot with step by step pictures.
Instant pot rice kheer / rice pudding in Instant pot
Rice kheer / Rice pudding - Rich and creamy Indian dessert recipe using Instant pot
Add the rice and roast for a minute. Firstly add water, mix well.
Then add milk, sugar, cardamom powder, saffron threads. Mix well.
Press CANCEL. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the time to 12 minutes in normal pressure.
Make sure pressure valve is in SEALING position. Let the pressure release NATURALLY (NPR). Open the cooker and mash the rice well.
Add more milk and sugar if needed.
Add roasted cashews. Mix well and serve hot. Enjoy !
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Take basmati rice and grind coarsely using pulse button in mixie. Wash it well and set aside.
Wash the instant pot vessel and the inner ring portion of the lid thoroughly. Dry it completely. This helps to prevent curdling of kheer.
Switch on the instant pot and press SAUTE button. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in the instant pot base vessel. Add cashew nuts and roast it till golden in color. Remove in a plate.
Add washed rice and roast for a minute. Add water (DO NOT SKIP WATER) and mix well. Add boiled milk (at roon temperature), sugar, cardamom powder and saffron threads. Mix well to scrape the rice sticking to the bottom of the vessel.
Now press CANCEL button and press PRESSURE COOK button. Set the timer to 12 minutes in NORMAL pressure. Close the instant pot lid and keep the pressure valve in SEALING position.
After 12 minutes, instant pot goes to warm mode and pressure releases. Let the pressure release naturally (NPR). Open the lid after the pressure button drops down. Mix well. Do not release the pressure forcefully. Milk will be splashed everywhere and make a mess. I removed it after 40 minutes. Kheer would be well cooked and looks thick. Mix well and check for taste and consistency. Add more milk and sugar if needed. I used 1/2 cup more milk. So totally I used 4.5 cups milk. Lastly add roasted cashewnuts. Mix well and serve hot.
Enjoy !
Note
Wash the instant pot vessel, lid and dry it properly before cooking . It helps to avoid curdling of kheer.
Do not skip water. It helps to avoid the kheer burning in the bottom.
Make sure your scrape the bottom of vessel to avoid the rice sticking to the vessel and getting burnt.
You can also use PORRIDGE Mode in instant pot but it takes longer time to cook.
You can make the kheer thick or thin as per your wish.
For variations, you can use condensed milk instead of sugar.
Do not use JAGGERY. Kheer will curdle. If you want to use jaggery, make a thin syrup. Add it only after cooking the rice in milk and water.
You can also make vermicelli kheer in the same way. You can set the cooking time even lesser as it cooks quickly.
Do not try to quick release because hot milk spills from the vent.
Try this easy, yummy rice kheer in instant pot. You will love it !
Neureos/ Nevris / Nevri / Neuro is a Goan special Christmas sweet. In Tamil nadu we call this as sweet somas. In North India, its popularly known as Gujiya. But the fillings and method varies for all these sweets.
This Goan special neureos in a must and should try sweet for Christmas in Goa and other parts of India. Its tastes crispy outside with a sweet filling inside. Filling for neureos can be prepared in two ways. One with desiccated coconut and another one with roasted moong dal.
As this is my first attempt in making this sweet, I tried stuffing with desiccated coconut, rava / semolina and nuts. It came out so well. We all loved it. I have made it thrice so far. Every time it came out well without disappointing me. You can store this sweet in an air tight container for a week and consume it. But I would recommend to use it before 2 to 3 days.
Every year I am trying some Goan Christmas sweets and posting in my blog. I am happy that I tried this yummy sweet this year.
Mix maida, rava, ghee and salt. Add required water to make a thick, smooth dough.
Cover and rest for an hour. Make stuffing in the mean time.
Heat ghee in a kadai. Roast cashews and raisins. Add rava, khus khus, sesame seeds and roast for few minutes.
Add sugar, desiccated coconut / dry coconut powder, cardamom powder and mix well in low flame for a minute. Switch off the flame and cool down completely.
Take the dough and shape lemon sized balls. Roll it to a small disc. Keep the stuffing in the center. Apply water on the corners. Fold into half moon shape.
Cut the edges and make shapes. Heat oil to deep fry.
Add 2 to 4 nevri and cook in medium flame till golden brown on both the sides.
Remove from oil and drain in a perforated vessel. Fry the remaining and set aside to cool.
Store in an air tight box and consume within 2 to 3 days for best taste.
METHOD - STEP BY STEP PICTURES
Take a bowl and mix maida, rava, ghee and a pinch of salt. Mix well to spread the ghee with flour. Add water gradually and make a smooth but thick dough. Dough should not be too soft or sticky. Please remember this point. Thick dough gives you crispy neureos.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rest for an hour. In the mean time, lets make the stuffing / filling part.
To make neureos filling, heat ghee in a kadai. Roast the cashew pieces and dry grapes till golden. Add the rava, khus khus, sesame seeds (optional) and roast for few minutes in medium flame. Make sure you don’t burn anything.
Add sugar and mix well in medium flame. Add dry coconut powder or desiccated coconut powder and mix quickly. Switch off the flame. You don’t have to melt the sugar. If you mix quickly and switch off the flame, stuffing will be in powder form only. Let it cool down completely else stuffing will ooze out while frying.( If you want to use powdered sugar, add at the end after switching off the flame. Rava and coconut should not be hot while adding sugar).
Now take the dough and make lemon sized balls. Take one ball, dust in maida or apply little oil and roll to make small disc of palm size. Place 1 tbsp stuffing in the center. Apply water in the corners and fold the nevri into half moon shape.
Now use a samosa cutter or pizza cutter or a knife and remove the extra portions. You can press with a fork to make designs or make it simple like half moon shape. Make all the nevri and arrange in a plate without touching each other.
Heat oil in a kadai. Drop a pinch of dough and check if it rises to the top immediately. Now keep the flame completely low and drop 2 to 3 nevris based on the size of kadai and quantity of oil. You can also fry one at a time like I did.
Increase the flame to medium and cook patiently till it turns golden on one side. As soon as you drop the neureos in oil, it puffs up. Splash oil over the top of neureos and cook in low to medium flame till it turns golden in the bottom.
Now flip and cook the other side till golden and bubbles cease completely. Make sure you cook it patiently in low to medium flame till golden in color to make crispy neureos. It will also stay crispy for few days when stored in an air tight box.
Remove from oil and keep in a perforated vessel to drain excess oil. Let it come to room temperature. Then store in an air tight box and handle with clean hands to avoid becoming soggy. It stays good for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.
Enjoy !
Note
For stuffing, you can also use powdered sugar. In that case, you should not add while the rava and coconut is hot. You should mix when its cold after roasting.
Do not make the dough soft and sticky. Neuroes will become soft after frying. Make a tight, thick dough.
Deep fry patiently in low to medium flame to make crispy nevris.
Khus khus/ poppy seeds and sesame seeds are ususally used. But you can skip if you don''t have it.
Try this yummy, Goan special Neureos for this Christmas and enjoy !
